Thursday 9 October 2008

Blog Policy

I'm lazy. I have only set up this account in order to follow other people's blogs and gossip on them.

N.B. If you have clicked on my name via a comment I have made elsewhere, then you might enjoy looking at some of the other blogs that I follow. (When I have worked out how to get them to show up).

I will also be putting up links of interest. (When I have worked out how to do that as well).

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UPDATE:

[Hmm, this part of the page looks dreadfully blank – I think I shall fill it with my favourite poem for the benefit of those who find themselves here].

Occasionally, when I read something old, I get the sense of hearing a voice carrying down through the years. This gives me both a sense of continuity and a feeling of connection with those who lived centuries before my birth. This poem is from the eighth century, penned by an anonymous student at the monastery of Carinthia. It was apparently found written on the back of a copy of St. Paul’s Epistles.

When choosing to listen to a voice from long ago I would much prefer to hear from a clever but gentle type who simply loved his moggy than... that other guy.

Maybe you don’t agree, but even so, I hope you like the poem.

Pangur Bán

I and Pangur Bán, my cat,
‘Tis a like task we are at;
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
‘Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill-will,
He too plies his simple skill.

‘Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur’s way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.

‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
‘Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

When a mouse darts from its den,
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!

So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Bán, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.

Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.

Translated from the Gaelic by Robin Flower

13 comments:

Jonathan said...

Suggestion: when you're signed in and you go to someone's blog, you will sometimes see a little spanner/screwdriver symbol at the bottom-right corner of a widget on that blog (such as my links of interest). If you click on that icon, it will allow you to set up something similar on your own blog. Hope that helps!

Sharon said...

Dammit, Hazel!

I was all excited to see that you had set up a blog. I thought that I had one more place to add to my list of "great things to read whilst procrastinating". :)

Hazel said...

Hehehe!

There I was in a back room (cough) "a fiddlin' with mah blog" thinking no-one would notice and suddenly I find I have comments and everyfink!
---
Thanks, Jonathan I shall get that a bash.
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Sorry Sharon too lazy to post :-))

Anonymous said...

Hi Corylus, I saw your icon on, um, somebody's blog (I've looked at too many lately to remember) and I thought, "I know that little mouse!" Just thought I'd say, "Hi!" :)

Hazel said...

Hi ZM!

DDIM 'n HOFFI said...

Get bloggin Hazel - go on make that effort!. I have a blog which has like 2 subscribers, but who cares? Maybe we can start a community of lazy bloggers all talking about mundane stuff; no really!!

I reckon bloggin is brilliant therapy for loonies like me, it makes you think about stuff more. I just wish there was a better community where the less stuffy could all link and share.

Ardent Skeptic said...

Hi Hazel,

I noticed your recent post at Jean's "In Living Color". It was very kind of you to offer to continue the conversation here, particularly when Jean is having some serious personal issues she needs to deal with.

Love the mouse shot, BTW!

And, I love "DDIM 'n HOFF!"'s lazy blogger idea.

My husband and I are lazy bloggers. Maybe, we should all start something like FTB called CLB for "Community of Lazy Bloggers". ;-)

Hazel said...

Thank you, Ardent :)

Yes, lazy blogging sounds good.

Hmm, maybe I should get off my furry little backside and do a post about Russell's In Praise of Idleness!

Anonymous said...

I'm enjoying your dispassionate correspondence on Ophelia's blog. It's a pity that the commentariat can't respond as dispassionately.

Cheers,
KiwiInOz

Anonymous said...

Why don't you come across to the Slyme Pit (www.slymepit.com; if you haven't already). It's far more convivial, with a good mix of the low brow through to the high.

We aren't actually a bunch of rape enabling, misogynist, MRA PUA's, despite what our bretheren and sitren in FTB say.

Cheers,
KiwiInOz

Anonymous said...

Bother and blast! Sistren, not sitren.

Hazel said...

Thank you KiwiInOz.

Quine said...

Good on you! Perhaps we can get a proper blog ring going.

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